OREANDA-NEWS. Carrefour has just renewed its commitment to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) by signing the "Global Business and Disability Network" charter. The purpose of the charter is to promote the interests of people with disabilities and to include them through concrete initiatives at international level. An initiative that is consistent with practices that are already well-established at Carrefour: it currently employs more than 11,000 people with disabilities. The signing of this charter is also part of a partnership that it entered into with the ILO in 2011.

According to Guy Ryder, Director-General of the ILO, "the lack of equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities often means lives of poverty and social exclusion” [...] “The first signatories – all the major international companies – will help us spread a simple but essential message: employing people with disabilities is not just a good moral cause: it is also good for business. This new charter can also make a sustained contribution to achieving many of the goals which are included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".

Employing disabled workers and keeping them in employment: stepping up the concrete initiatives

In the various countries in which it operates, Carrefour distinguishes itself through its sustained inclusive equal opportunities policy, a policy that promotes diversity and seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination. Between 2011 and 2014, Carrefour saw a 21.3% increase in its numbers of employees with disabilities.

. In Brazil, a country in which all stores employ workers with disabilities, Carrefour has rolled out its "Eu pratico a inclus?o" (I support inclusion) programme, together with the "Meu amigo e especial" scheme to help them integrate into the company. This proactive policy has increased the number of disabled employees to 1600 – nearly 300 of whom were hired in 2014.

. In France, where 8% of people working in hypermarkets are disabled, the "Mission Handicap" agreement that was instigated in 1999 and which has been renewed six times since, is built around three key commitments: recruiting employees with disabilities, integrating them into the workforce under the best conditions possible and helping them stay in employment – by modifying their workstations in particular (ergonomic design, working hours, etc.) The 2014-2016 agreement also sets a target of 350 hires over its 3-year duration. Agreements have also been entered into and initiatives undertaken in supermarkets and across the supply chain.

. In Poland, Carrefour has been employing hard-of-hearing checkout staff since 2006, bringing the total number of disabled employees up to 700 – that's 6% of the total workforce. Carrefour also encourages the use of assisted contracts in partnership with the Ekon association, and this has led to the recruitment of 150 mentally disabled people.  

In October, Carrefour – represented by its CEO Georges Plassat – and trade union Federation UNI Global Union signed an international agreement to promote Social dialogue, Diversity and the employment of people with disabilities. The agreement was signed in the presence of Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
 

The ILO’s "Global Business and Disability Network" charter.
As a global tool designed to enable companies to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities, this charter has a broad selection of aims. These include protecting employees with disabilities against all forms of discrimination, ensuring that they are able to access the premises, and guaranteeing that they can receive internal communications. Carrefour’s partnership with the ILO began in 2011. It was the first major company to join the ILO's Disability network.